How construction could gain top employer status in 2025
By Roelof van den Berg
The government’s commitment to reenergising infrastructure development, and attracting vast amounts of new investments into the industry in 2025 has the potential to once again grant the sector top employer status. This, in turn, would enable the construction sector to play a vital role in addressing the country’s staggering 45.5% youth unemployment rate by creating thousands of jobs for lower-skilled workers.
But achieving this goal will require learning from and breaking the patterns of the past to ensure that job creation remains sustainable rather than short-lived.
Construction is one of the few leading industries uniquely positioned to bring about real change for the countless lower-skilled workers struggling every day to get by, and to create better lives for themselves and their families. It has the potential to take workers from any background, level of education, and professional proficiency, and upskill them into higher salary positions with stable employment prospect.
The industry has proven its ability to do exactly this in the past decades, but has faced considerable challenges tied to the cyclical nature of infrastructure employment booms and busts. Overcoming this cycle is the key to stabilising the country’s economy and delivering on the promise to improve lives, especially for the youth.
Escaping unstable employment cycles
One of the country’s major structural economic weaknesses is that for decades, employment growth has centred around higher-skilled service industries such as IT and finance, with both the public and private sectors seeking to tap into global economic and technological advancements. While vital in their own right, these ‘office jobs’ don’t address the immediate need to absorb the large number of South African citizens – particularly youth – who do not possess qualifications or significant work experience.
Contrastingly, construction has consistently demonstrated its ability to be a leading employer, with a unique ability to absorb large numbers of semi-skilled and low-skilled workers. This represents an especially critical advantage in a country where, according to Statistics South Africa, over 70% of South Africans only have matric or less.
During past construction boom phases, we’ve witnessed the industry’s capacity to boost employment among desperately underemployed groups and communities. Take, for example, the effect on the labour market brought on by substantial investments into South African infrastructure in the lead-up to the 2010 FIFA World Cup more than a decade ago. The large labour requirements needed to build and upgrade stadiums, highways, and public transport systems briefly fuelled thousands of new jobs among semi-skilled and low-skilled workers.
Likewise, construction of the Medupi and Kusile power stations, which began in 2007, and Gauteng’s large-scale housing initiatives, including the Mega Housing Projects plan implemented in the mid-2010s, provided substantial employment opportunities throughout the projects’ lifespans.
However, since then, we have seen an unfortunate withdrawal of sector-wide investments, coupled with major unforeseen setbacks such as the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and its associated lockdowns, and various international conflicts disrupting construction supply chains. In the wake of this, too many South Africans have been left without jobs.
As such, the government's commitment to rolling out mass infrastructure and turn South Africa into a ‘construction site’ represents a key opportunity to address unemployment in 2025. Given the sector’s proven ability to hire and train workers without prior experience, this will provide immediate employment opportunities. But while mega-projects could further boost employment, it will also require a steady approach to ensure future sector growth and job creation.
Preparing for an employment boom and future stability
To overcome patterns of the past and transform construction into a sustainable, more stable employer, we first need to simply see the launch and swift implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects. Both government and private sector partners within the construction industry must work together toward cutting through the red tape and administrative delays that slow down project allocation, allowing contractors to begin the work sooner rather than later.
Secondly, the private sector must take pointed steps to invest in continuous skills development and apprenticeships that align with construction and infrastructure development trends, and address skills gaps.
Finally, emphasis must be placed on establishing clear pathways from entry-level positions to skilled trades in high-demand areas, cultivating artisans such as electricians, plumbers, and carpenters. These positions are consistently in high-demand, and will provide more workers with stable future incomes.
Ultimately, a forward-thinking approach, supported by direct investment and intelligent policy reforms can once again make construction a top driver of employment in South Africa. In 2025, the country’s renewed focus on big-ticket infrastructure projects and housing developments may well be the key to alleviating both unemployment and youth joblessness.
Roelof van den Berg, CEO of Gap Infrastructure Corporation.
BUSINESS REPORT